Middleboro mom fights for pool safety

Monday

Aug 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 27, 2007 at 8:59 PM

Middleboro mom advocates for pool safety April Dion said her 4-year-old son nearly drowned in a neighbor's pool because the fence around it was too low.

In the wake of a recent pool incident that could have taken the life of April Dion's 4-year-old son, Devon, the Middleboro mother is urging people to remain aware of the potential hazards associated with pools.

On Aug. 14, Dion, the mother of four children, was feeding her infant daughter in the living room of their Wood Street home when her autistic 4-year-old son, Devon Costello, got out of the house and wandered into a neighbor's above-ground pool.

Although the pool is gated, Dion said, one part of the gate is low and there was no lock.

“I glanced across to the neighbor's yard ... as I was running there, I saw splashing from the pool. (Devon) was going under. I jumped in and got him,” said Dion.

Luckily, Devon was not injured. Public safety officials were called, and Devon was taken to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth as a precaution and later released.

According to Dion, her neighbors were not home when the incident occurred.

Dion said that Devon is a very high-functioning autistic child, who is attracted to water.

She also said he is considered a “runner,” which can be a common trait for autistic children

“He is very good at getting out of the house,” said Dion.

Because he is so adept at getting out of the house quickly, Dion said she recently began setting the house alarm to go off in the event he does manage to get out.

The alarm, however, has a 60-second delay and in that short period of time, Devon got out.

“The fact that Devon is autistic is beside the point,” said Dion, “Any kid could have gone in there. The main concern is prevention and safety.”

“The fence is very low.

There were no locks,” she said.

Among other regulations for pools with more than 24 inches of water, the state building code requires gates to be self-closing, self-latching and must accommodate a lock.

There also needs to be a protective barrier that is “at least 48 inches above finished ground-level.”

Directly after the incident, Dion said she contacted Building Inspector Robert Whalen, and the problems at the pool has been corrected.

She said a chain-link fence around the yard has been secured, the height of the fence around the pool area has been raised and there is a lock.

Even though the situation has been corrected and summer is coming to a close, Dion said she is still concerned about pool safety and feels there are gray areas regarding pool regulations in general.

“We need to pursue it with lawmakers to prevent this type of incident from happening. People need to be more aware, even in the wintertime when pools are covered,” she said.

Dion wants to see re-inspections of pools and permits performed more regularly to ensure safety and compliance with laws.

According to a Building Department employee, pool permits are pulled and reviewed annually but re-inspections are only performed if a major change has been made to the pool or if there was a problem.

Violation letters are sent out if it is found a pool is not permitted.

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